It's standing-room only. The way the audience clamors for what few seats remain, one would think they're lining up for a prized stake at the latest Stones tour, or a front-row seat at the Cirque du Soleil.
Obvious analogy aside, the recent fury of Congressional lawmakers to expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's reach over speculative players -- purportedly behind soaring energy and agricultural prices of late --has drawn packed audiences, excited to learn the latest regulatory loophole that immoral traders are using to line their pockets.
The problem is, we've heard the arguments ad nauseum. One side contends investment by swap dealers into index funds constitutes undue speculation that has driven oil prices to record highs. Others believe such players are commercial entities who deserve their exemptions from speculative position limits.
Speculative players could comprise between 30% and 70% of crude oil futures trade, depending on who you ask. The UK's Financial Services Authority cannot be trusted to regulate crude oil traded on ICE Futures Europe. The "Enron loophole" (which, one must admit, can probably capture more headlines than the stuffier "foreign board of trade loophole" at the center of more recent legislation) might or might not have been closed with the farm bill.
Wednesday's hearing of the House Agriculture Committee, the first of three this week, at least had balloons, which Michigan Representative Bart Stupak used, in this observer's opinion, as a means to break the tedium. Squeezing one side of a red balloon so the other end bulged perilously, on the verge of bursting, Stupak sought to demonstrate symbolically that closing one loophole will only drive unscrupulous players in droves to exploit another loophole.
But there are no easy solutions to cure high energy prices. The CFTC doesn't have the resources or the information it needs to provide lawmakers, and Congress isn't patient enough to wait for more comprehensive answers on the issue of speculation.
In the meantime, Congressional aides could make a killing selling popcorn and cotton candy at their well-attended -- if repetitive -- venues.
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